Rogo Darkem in Scarmagno: “There had already been fires in the company”

The testimony at the trial of what had been an employee of the company, speak the representatives of the damaged economic activities

SCARMAGNO. “We assembled and ground various chemical compounds such as sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, potassium perchlorate and produced caustic soda. Before being called Darkem it was Interchimica and at the sites of Strambino, Torre Balfredo di Ivrea and within the Olivetti di Scarmagno area there had already been episodes of fires ». This is the story of one of the witnesses, Isham Midi, 46, a resident of Romano, a former employee of the Darkem chemical company in Scarmagno who exploded on the night of May 30, 2016, injuring 13 people and devastating the area. The trial for that disaster resumed on Wednesday morning in front of Judge Antonella Pelliccia of the Ivrea court. The defendants are Davide and Giuseppe D’Arco, 35 and 47 years old, residing in Romano, defended by the lawyer Stefano Rossi accused of negligent fire, damage and negligent injuries.

That dramatic night many rescuers were injured: seven firefighters, three policemen and two carabinieri. Together with them also a resident of neighboring houses. In the previous hearing it was they who testified in the courtroom, telling of the dozen explosions after a fire that broke out for unknown reasons. The factory was gutted, the shock wave hit all buildings within a kilometer radius.

Wednesday, the owners of the companies in the industrial area of ​​via Masero in Scarmagno where Darkem was located were called to testify: “After the arrival of Darkem – reports the managing director of one of the companies – I had the opportunity to speak with the mayor of Scarmagno (Pierluigi Bot Sartor at the time ed) and to express my concern for the type of chemical product processing they did inside and the daily coming and going of trucks that could be seen. The Darkem explosion caused our company damages for about one million euros, fortunately reimbursed by our insurance company ». Other entrepreneurs also reported during the hearing that their companies have suffered extensive damages for tens of thousands of euros. Finally, a resident on the road to Montalenghe in Romano, about a kilometer from the site of the explosion, reported that the windows of the house cracked due to the shock wave that evening. The Moroccan worker said: «I had been working in the company since 2006, when it was called Interchimica and it was in the Tebbio Region in Strambino. There had already been three fires in the company before 2016. I worked with two colleagues and I received the instructions from Domenico D’Arco (the father of the defendants who died two years ago ed). We assembled chemicals. We also received the material from China and from countries of the former Soviet Union ». Many of these compounds are used in chemistry to produce gunpowder and were highly explosive. After hearing the last of Darkem’s employees, the magistrate postponed the hearing on 2 May. –